Free Louise by Louise Krug

Claude after dinner. He is in his car, on his way to LA to see some band. Yesterday he was night fishing with friends. The day before that, at a bonfire, drinking. Louise can’t imagine herself doing any of these things. She can’t even drink without her left eye leaping up and down violently. Claude says he does not want to give up on their relationship, but to Louise, him saying that means that he already has.
    Louise goes back to a mirror and turns so only half her face shows. She puts on a necklace Claude gave her five months ago, a thin gold chain and a pretty brown stone. She applies lip gloss and mascara and ruffles her hair. She looks at that half in the mirror. There is still hope, she thinks.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
    W arner has a Zen rock garden that he combs with a special rake. The rake has widely spaced teeth. He makes dinner and does most of the grocery shopping. His painting studio is above a drugstore on their town’s main street. It used to be a lawyer’s office. A hospital bought one of his pieces. A hotel bought another.
    Elizabeth is a financial analyst and works in the city. She cooks very well, specializing in desserts. She and Warner ride bikes together most Saturdays. She has a personal trainer who comes two mornings a week at six a.m. Elizabeth wants to feel useful, so she takes Louise to her hairdresser, who gently massages Louise’s head, even the scarred part, in one of those special sinks full of warm water. They decide to cut her hair to a blunt, chin-length bob. It is soft and golden, and with all the layered ends cut off it looks like a child’s haircut. Elizabeth takes Louise to get pedicures, manicures. She rents movies she thinks Louise might like, buys her bright pajamas, cozy slippers, and special ice cream that comes in small cartons.
    Elizabeth likes doing these things for Louise. She has never had any children of her own, and she loves Louise and her brothers. Besides, Warner needs help. He worries.
    â€œShould she go to therapy?” he’s always asking. “A support group or something? What else? A meditation cushion?” He sits on the bed and rubs his face. He looks like he has aged ten years in the months since the surgeries: his hair now gray, a slouch evident.
    â€œSometimes I walk by a chair and she is just sitting there with her eyes closed,” he says.
    â€œTomorrow I’ll take her to my masseuse,” Elizabeth says. “We’ll go to the farmers’ market. Get lunch. Also, there’s a sidewalk sale.”
    She removes her eye makeup with a cotton ball.
    â€¢
    Warner is relieved to know that an occupational therapist will help Louise. His daughter will learn to complete daily tasks with her right hand, such as:
    â€”Brushing her hair and teeth
    â€”Buttoning her shirt, tying her shoes
    â€”Chopping vegetables
    â€”Washing herself
    She will have a team of occupational and physical therapists and a hearing-and-speech therapist. After the surgeries, she lost some of the hearing in her left ear. And because of the facial paralysis, some words are difficult for her to say, especially words that begin with “th” and “p”—“thistle” and “peanut.” Warner notices it is hard for her to take a bite out of a sandwich because her facial muscles don’t work on the right side. When she chews, she has to move the food from her cheek with her finger.
    Warner remembers taking Louise to get donuts Saturday mornings when she was little, after Michael was born. He and Janet were still married. He wanted to make sure Louise still felt special, even with two baby brothers. Louise had been small for her age, six, and talked nonstop. She always chose the cake donuts with sprinkles, and Warner liked the bear claws. Once he taught her how to dip the donut in his coffee and eat it. She had spit it out and said, Daddy!
    Tomorrow he will tell her about the article he read called “Recovery